Daily Archives: November 15, 2012

From The Village Voice, a list of one writers top ten. Ironically, altohugh I’ve heard hundreds of free jazz albums, I only have heard 5 on this list. In other words, the writer goes off the beaten path, which is rarely a bad thing to do.

Free jazz is challenging, violent, political, spiritual, joyous, peaceful, and a million other things. It’s about shattering forms in order to find a new world of sound somewhere further outside. And once this new world is found, it’s time to go looking for a newer one.

When, as a college student, I first purchased Ornette Coleman‘s landmark album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, the record store clerk mumbled to me, “I didn’t make it all the way through this album the first time I put it on.” Ignoring his advice, I went home and listened to it all the way through. Many times. I loved it. I went looking for more. These are 10 of the albums I found. It should go without saying that this list is meant, not as a dead-end, but as a pathway that leads to the listening of many, many more fantastic free jazz albums.

On Saturday, December 29th at 7:30 p.m., pianist/composer Eri Yamamoto, and her longstanding working trio featuring bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Ikuo Takeuchi, will record a new live album in the high-end piano showroom at Klavierhaus in New York.

Featuring Michael Dessen on trombone and live electronics along with renowned NYC-based musicians Chris Tordini (bass) and Dan Weiss (drums), this unique ensemble blends polyrhythmic flow and intricate compositions with adventurous improvisation and spacious soundscapes. For this concert, the trio will premiere a new work, Resonating Abstractions, that was commissioned by Chamber Music America’s “New Jazz Works” program, with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Resonating Abstractions is based on work by seven contemporary visual artists as well as on broader questions surrounding the nature and practice of abstraction.

Monday, Dec. 17th 8 pm
Todd Reynolds

Violin and electronics (New York)
Selections from his acclaimed debut-album Outerborough along with improvisations and works in process.

Todd Reynolds, violinist, composer, educator and technologist is known as one of the founding fathers of the hybrid-musician movement and one of the most active and versatile proponents of what he calls ‘present music’. The violinist of choice for Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, Bang on a Can, and a founder of the string quartet known as Ethel, his compositional and performance style is a hybrid of old and new technology, multi-disciplinary aesthetic and pan-genre composition and improvisation. Reynolds’ music has been called “a charming, multi-mood extravaganza, playful like Milhaud, but hard-edged like Hendrix” (Strings Magazine), and his countless premieres and performances of everything from classical music to Jazz to Rock‘n’Roll seem to redefine the concert hall and underground club as undeniably and unavoidably intertwined. He has just released his double CD set, Outerborough on Innova Recordings, featuring InSide, a collection of his own music, paired with OutSide, music written by a veritable who’s who of contemporary composers.

On Tuesday, December 4th, Arts for Art will launch the Under_Line campaign with a special benefit featuring the best musicians bridging different aesthetics under the banner Vision and Integrity. There will be a visual presentation portraying the history of jazz within the lower east side and art, across generations featuring the hip and the cool. The Under_Line will connect the past and present of un-compromised music and creative expression to the lower east side.

From the Lower Eastside to the world- Arts for Art has identified the perfect venue to set the stage for talents to showcase from the Lower Eastside to the world. The 17,000 square foot undeveloped basement of the Clemente Soto Velez (CSV) located at 107 Suffolk Street will soon become available and would serve as an excellent and viable location to build a performance space rich in cultural relevance.

Like this:

On November 20, our monthly residency continues at Dynasty Ethiopian Restaurant at 2210 14th St NW, Washington, DC, beginning at 8. Virtuoso drummer Dominic Fragman will be performing a solo set, as will Sansyou’s David Nicholas.

On November 24, we perform at a Sonic Circuits benefit at and for the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring, which has generously hosted more Sonic Circuits performances than I can keep track of. The bill will include tangent of safety, Borborites, TL0741, fast forty and N-Body Convergence. There will also be films curated by Chris Lynn.